Re: Keeping large cells in suspension
Stephen G. Kayes (kayes@sungcg.usouthal.edu)
Thu, 10 Aug 1995 21:38:13 -0500 (CDT)
Parasitologists have long used methyl cellulose to slow down single cell
organisms such as ameobae, flagellates etc. for microscopic study. In
fact such a product was (is?) commercially available (I don't know from
whom) under the name "Proto-Slo". The significance of this is that these
eukaryotic organisms stayed alive during the time they were suspended in
this material. I seem to remember (but I also forget alot) that this
solution was about 8% methyl cellulose. Hope there is grain of
usefulness here for suspending your particles. The other thing that
comes to mind is 0.5% agarose if you can maintain a temperature above the
geling point.
Steve Kayes
On Wed, 9 Aug 1995 gap@mit.edu wrote:
> Hi All!
>
> Has anyone found a way to keep large particles in suspension for
> any extended period of time? The problem I am having is that I am
> trying to sort a fraction of 100um particles and these things settle out
> of solution after only 10 minutes or so. This makes the sort long and
> tedious. I once heard about a food additive called xanthan gum that
> would increase the viscosity of the liquid the particles are in. Does
> anyone have this or another product working?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Glenn
> MIT Flow Cytometry Core Facility
> (617) 253 6454
> gap@mit.edu
>